Every Rose has it's thorns
by Captainfredrickwentworth
Summary: This is just a one-shot reunion fic inspired by the Doctor's quote "Every Rose has it's thorns" in the episode 'The Doctor, the widow and the wardrobe'. Basically when Mag guides her husband home he is not the only one to be rescued from the time vortex. Also, if there is any...well clone bashing in this story it was for plot reasons and I don't have a problem with tentoo.


**Hey guys! This one has been half-written since I decided to show my friend the episode 'The Doctor, the widow and the wardrobe'. (Which was some months ago) I finally finished it but it is unedited so please don't judge me if there are mistakes.**

**Enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who**

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The Doctor watched the family reunite before him. It was times like these that he wished he could have a family again. Of course he had the Ponds, but they still thought he was dead and he just sort of kept it that way. He would go and see them eventually; no doubt River had already told them he wasn't actually dead.

He retreated back to his room at the top of the house and fiddled with his sonic screwdriver. Christmas day. Why were things always so hard around Christmas for him? Christmas was usually such a joyous occasion, in fact he remembered many Christmas's where he himself was very, very happy, some were even on different planets at the wrong time of year...but that was when she was with him.

Deep down he felt slightly guilty for still pining over her. She was gone and probably married by now, and here he was, married and...alone. After everything he'd been through he was still alone. He never allowed himself to fall for River properly because he knew right from the beginning that she was dead. How could he love a ghost? He married her to save the universe and she intrigued him greatly...but she wasn't and isn't the woman his hearts still beat for.

Sighing and walking over to the TARDIS he didn't hear the door open behind him until Mag spoke. "I knew it was you!" she grinned. "My fallen spaceman, my angel".

The Doctor cringed slightly and being called an angel...again. "Yes well, you helped me when I was in trouble so I thought I'd return the favour by giving you lot a great Christmas".

"Well you have," Mag smiled kindly at him. "So will you stay, for Christmas?"

The Doctor sighed. "I don't really do that".

"Do you have friends you need to get back to?" she asked hesitantly.

"Well..." he shrugged, "they think I'm dead".

"Then get back to them you foolish man," Mag shook her head at him, "but first there is something you need to see".

"What is it?" he asked curiously.

"Come outside and see," she took his hand and led him out to where a section of the ground was still smouldering. "Something's been here".

The Doctor sniffed, scanning the patch with his sonic. A vaguely familiar scent of perfume filled his nostrils as he inhaled. "Or someone".

"What do you mean someone?" Mag asked, frowning. "If someone had been in the middle of this then they'd have been burning up".

The Doctor's hearts sped up at the possibility of what was happening. Suddenly something dawned on him. "Oh Mag, you brilliant woman!" he pulled her face to him and kissed her forehead. "When you led your husband home he wasn't the only person to return home safely, oh no!"

"I don't understand," Mag blinked up at him. "Who else could I have possibly led home?"

"The woman I love," the Doctor beamed at her. "You see she's a bit like me really, obviously," he laughed. "She must have found her way across the void again but got lost in the time vortex. Imagine that! Lost and confused in the time vortex, no telling how long she's been in there, but you, you led her here and now I can find her!"

"Wait, so..." Mag held up a hand, "I'm trying to understand this. I take it she was...missing?" the Doctor nodded, "and she found her way back from, wherever, but got lost in the time vortex?" again the Doctor nodded, "and I led her home," Mag began to smile. "How long has it been since you have seen her?"

The Doctor shrugged, "Got to be about two hundred years, give or take".

"You are remarkable," Mag shook her head. "So will she be coming here?"

"No," the Doctor grinned, "She's already here". He turned back towards the house to see the silhouette of a woman against the light from the windows.

"Hello?" Mag called out into the darkness.

"Hi," came a familiar voice as the figure walked towards them.

Mag watched as the woman stepped closer and took in her appearance. She was medium height with long blonde hair, wearing a short sleeved shirt and long trousers. The funny thing was that she hadn't seemed to even notice the Doctor, like she didn't know who he was.

"Are you alright?" Mag asked automatically. "Would you like to come in?"

The woman grinned at her. "Thank you, I'd love to".

The three made their way back inside, Mag watching the Doctor's reaction closely. He didn't seem to care that she didn't know him; he was just transfixed by her.

"Is it Christmas?" Rose asked upon seeing the decorations.

Mag smiled at her, "Of course it is".

Rose's smiled faltered, "Then I better not intrude on your Christmas," her eyes flickered between Mag and the Doctor.

Mag laughed. "Oh dear, that would be something wouldn't it?" she shook her head. "We aren't married darling. My husband and children are in the other room".

"Oh," Rose nodded, "I'm sorry, I never even asked your name".

"I'm Mag," she offered her hand for Rose to shake.

"Rose Tyler," she shook her hand and turned to the Doctor, "and you are?"

The Doctor swallowed and held out his hand. "They call me Caretaker here".

"Well Caretaker," Rose gripped his hand, "it's nice to meet you".

They moved on into the next room where Mag's family were having their Christmas. Although Rose had been assured that she wasn't intruding, she stood in the doorway and watched the children unwrap their presents. She noticed that 'Caretaker' didn't sit with them, but stayed off to the side and watched almost wistfully.

He approached her after a few minutes and she smiled warmly up at him. "Have you got family?" Rose asked.

"No," his eyes fell to his shoes for a few seconds, "Not anymore".

"Oh I'm sorry," she patted his arm gently.

He gave her a small smile. "What about you, you got kids?"

Rose shook her head. "Nah, I've never been married".

The Doctor looked up at her in surprise. "Why not?"

Rose raised her eyebrows in shock. "Ah, well I just never found the right person. A long time ago there was someone, but he wasn't quite himself it seemed. He went a little bit wild and left me after only about a year of dating".

"He did?!" the Doctor squeaked.

"Well yeah," Rose shrugged. "I guess he thought there were more important things in his life. He wanted to spend his life with me or so he said, but he wasn't even himself when he said that".

"I'm so sorry," the Doctor shook his head, "To lose your family is one thing, but to be abandoned by the person who is supposed to love you above everyone else is unthinkable".

Rose snorted. "You wouldn't believe the amount of times I've been left by this guy. I forgave him for every other time. I even forgave him for leaving me on the beach that time, but for abandoning me after all he'd promised? I couldn't forgive that".

"Where is he now?" the Doctor asked quietly.

Rose sucked in a deep breath. "Gone. He died a few years ago. All my family died and then he died to top it off. Everyone I cared about is gone".

"I know how you feel," the Doctor spoke gently. "I remember when everyone I cared about was gone. I hated everyone and refused to let myself trust. Of course, that was until I met this really great girl," he smiled to himself. "She helped me learn to trust and love again, but one day she was taken from me. After that I managed, life wasn't great but I continued like I always had, and then the most miraculous thing happened. She came back to me. I was overjoyed of course, but I couldn't let her be with me if she had a chance of happiness with someone else. To this day I still missed her and regretted my decision to let her go, but I've changed since then, I don't even know if she'd recognise me".

Rose listened to every word he said and about halfway through the story she began to catch on to the similarities of what she remembered and what the Doctor's clone had told her. A wide grin spread across her face and she shook her head.

"What?" the Doctor asked clearly confused.

"Nothing," she continued to shake her head.

They both turned back to the family in front of them though neither actually paid any attention.

"So what do you do Caretaker?" Rose asked to break the silence. "I know you can't possibly just take care of this place. You look a little too mischievous do be doing only that".

'Was she flirting with him?' the Doctor wondered to himself. "No, I'm a bit of an explorer really," he smiled at her. "Travelling is a big part of my life".

"Mine too," she nodded. "Of course it's been a while since I went with someone".

The Doctor nodded absentmindedly for a moment. "Well maybe we could go together some time," he suddenly spoke. "That is if it's proper. Is it proper in this time period?"

Rose snorted and shook her head, unable to stop her laughter. "You really can't fit in can you?" she continued to laugh. "You can almost have your cover story worked out then you ask some question about the time period and it's blown".

"I'm sorry?" he asked, obviously supposed to sound like he hadn't heard her.

"So, bowties, aye?" she smirked. "I should have known".

The Doctor's face split into a grin. "Rose Tyler, bowties are cool".

"Yes they are, Doctor," she patted him on the back, "yes they are".

For a moment it escaped the Doctor's notice that Rose had just called him by his name, but after several seconds it was as if a light bulb had just been switched on.

"You called me by my name," he murmured.

"Of course I did, Caretaker," Rose smiled up at him.

The Doctor laughed with her for a few moments. They then lapsed into silence, both still smiling from laughing so much.

"Hello," the Doctor spoke quietly.

"Hello Doctor," she replied, her smile faltering slightly as she gazed into his eyes.

"You have no idea how much I missed you," he never broke eye contact once.

Rose smiled sadly. "I've missed you too, though to be honest I'm amazed you haven't started scanning me yet".

The Doctor shook his head. "The only reason I would be so invasive would be if you were hurt. I know that you aren't hurt so there's no need to test you or even scan you".

"So you're not curious how I got back?" she asked.

"I never said that," a smile grew on his face.

"Genetic modification," Rose answered simply.

The Doctor stared at her for a moment. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Genetic modification," Rose repeated. The Doctor was obviously still lost and rightfully so. "At Torchwood we deal with aliens all the time obviously, and we met these ones that were actually really nice. After getting to know one of them she explained that she could alter my DNA, changing my genetics so that I could live longer, among other things. You see, that other Doctor was like you but he wasn't you. He was an amazing friend to me, but being so human wasn't good for him. Anyway, my alien friend told me all about the procedure and I was thrilled. Changing my DNA makes me able to do a lot more than any human, or a lot of aliens for that matter. So they put me under and did that they needed to. I didn't know until I woke up what the cost of the operation was. Everything felt weird around me, like I could feel the atoms that made up every single object, both living and non-living. A doctor came to see me and told me that the operation was successful, forgetting to mention the two most important parts," she sucked in a deep breath.

"Which were?" the Doctor prompted.

"For starters, I'd been asleep for over a century," she shook her head. "I should have known that a major operation like that would take time. Of course it wasn't that much time to my friend and she was there to greet me when I left the hospital. She kept going on about how brave my Doctor or 'John' was and how amazed she was that he did what he did. Curiosity overcame me and I had to ask, not only what he had done, but why on Earth wasn't he there to meet me. She was shocked to say the least and went on to tell me that most of the genetic material I was given was his...he let them kill him to harvest what they needed for me".

"He did what?" the Doctor murmured quietly.

Rose shook her head. "He sacrificed himself for me and I will never be able to stop feeling guilty for that, but it only made me more determined to find you. His sacrifice couldn't be in vain".

"I'm so sorry, Rose, but I'm glad he came through for you all the same." the Doctor pulled her into a hug and she stood stiffly in his arms for a few moments before melting into his embrace.

"It's ok," she breathed against his chest. "You're lucky you don't look like him anymore," she laughed, wiping a tear from her eye, "because if you did then I might have had to slap you in the face".

"Why me?!" he objected loudly.

"Because you would have done the same thing," she looked at him accusingly.

He looked into her eyes. "I would have done everything I could".

"I know," she looked up into his eyes, taking in the toll that time had taken on them.

"Rose, I..."

She shook her head. "You don't have to say anything, Doctor".

"I just wanted to tell you that I would do anything for you, because I love you," he blurted out before his own better judgement could get the better of him.

She stared at him. "Still?"

"Always," he smiled sadly.

"Good," she whispered, "me too."

"Really?"

"Of course you daft alien," she chuckled. "I came all this way for you".

"Thank you," he reached forward and cupped her cheek. "I don't really know what to say, or what would be appropriate at this moment".

"What would be appropriate is you getting your butt over here and kissing me, Doctor," Rose replied, hands on her hips.

"My pleasure," he came close to her, moving his hand off her cheek to wrap around her waist with his other one.

Rose snaked her arms around his neck and grinned up at him as he finally lowered his head to give her the first real kiss they had ever shared.

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**So there you go. Please feel free to review and tell me what you think it helps me out a lot. Thank you for reading :)**


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